Front Matter 2012

Downloaded 01/21/16 to 109.161.241.181. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.
org/
Seismic Signatures and Analysis of

Reflection Data in Anisotropic Media
Third Edition
Ilya Tsvankin
Geophysical References Series No. 19

James Gaiser, volume editor
Sergey Fomel, managing editor
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A

Downloaded 01/21/16 to 109.161.241.181. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/
ISBN 978-0-931830-47-1 (Series)

ISBN 978-1-56080-299-0 (Volume)
Society of Exploration Geophysicists

P.O. Box 702740
Tulsa, OK 74170-2740
© 2012 by Society of Exploration Geophysicists

All rights reserved. This book or parts hereof may not be reproduced
in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Published 2012
Printed in the United States of America
First edition 2001

Second edition 2005
First and second editions were published by Elsevier.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
TSvankin, I. D.
Seismic signatures and analysis of reflection data in anisotropic media / Ilya Tsvankin.
-- Third edition.
pages cm. -- (Geophysical references series ; no. 19)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-56080-299-0 (volume : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-0-931830-47-1 (series :
alk. paper)
1. Seismic waves. 2. Anisotropy. 3. Seismic reflection method. I. Title.
QE538.5.T88 2012
551.22--dc23
2012030577
Dedicated to the memory of my parents, Daniel and Maya

Contents
About the author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Preface to the SEG edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
1 Elements of basic theory of anisotropic wave propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1 Governing equations and plane-wave properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.1 Wave equation and Hooke’s law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.2 Christoffel equation and properties of plane waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Group (ray) velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.4 Anisotropic symmetry systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Plane waves in transversely isotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2.1 Solutions of the Christoffel equation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2.2 Thomsen notation for transverse isotropy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.2.3 Exact and approximate phase and group velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.2.4 Polarization vector and relationship between phase, group, and
polarization directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.3 Plane waves in orthorhombic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.3.1 Limited equivalence between TI and orthorhombic media. . . . . . . . . . 37
1.3.2 Anisotropy parameters for orthorhombic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
1.3.3 Signatures in the symmetry planes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
1.3.4 P-wave velocity outside the symmetry planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
1.3.5 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Appendices for Chapter 1
1A Phase velocity in arbitrarily anisotropic media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
1B Group-velocity vector as a function of phase velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

2 Influence of anisotropy on point-source radiation and AVO analysis. . . . . . . . 61
2.1 Point-source radiation in anisotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.1.1 Green’s function in homogeneous anisotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.1.2 Numerical analysis of point-source radiation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.1.3 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.2 Radiation patterns and AVO analysis in VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
2.2.1 Radiation patterns for weak transverse isotropy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.2.2 P-wave radiation pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
2.2.3 P-wave reflection coefficient in VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
2.2.4 AVO signature of shear waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
2.2.5 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
2A Derivation of the anisotropic Green’s function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
2B Weak-anisotropy approximation for radiation patterns in TI media. . . . . . . 105
v
vi CONTENTS
3 Normal-moveout velocity in layered anisotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

3.1 2D NMO equation in an anisotropic layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

3.1.1 General expression for dipping reflectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
3.1.2 Special cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
3.2 NMO velocity for vertical transverse isotropy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
3.2.1 Horizontal reflector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
3.2.2 Elliptical anisotropy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3.2.3 Weak-anisotropy approximation for general VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . 115
3.2.4 Dip-dependent NMO velocity of P-waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
3.3 NMO velocity for tilted TI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
3.3.1 Absence of reflections from steep interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
3.3.2 Dip-dependent P-wave NMO velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
3.4 NMO velocity in layered media and time-to-depth conversion . . . . . . . . . . 149
3.4.1 2D Dix-type NMO equation for dipping reflectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
3.4.2 Horizontally layered media and time-to-depth conversion . . . . . . . . 151
3.5 Elements of 3D analysis of NMO velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
3.5.1 Equation of the NMO ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
3.5.2 NMO ellipse in VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
3.5.3 NMO ellipse in orthorhombic and HTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
3A 2D NMO equation in an anisotropic layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
3B Weak-anisotropy approximation for NMO velocity in TTI media . . . . . . . . 168
3C 2D Dix-type equation in layered anisotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
3D 3D NMO equation in heterogeneous anisotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
4 Nonhyperbolic reflection moveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

4.1 Quartic moveout coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
4.1.1 General 2D equation for a single anisotropic layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
4.1.2 Explicit expressions for VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
4.1.3 Layered media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
4.2 Nonhyperbolic moveout equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
4.2.1 Weak-anisotropy approximations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
4.2.2 General long-spread moveout equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
4.3 P-wave moveout in VTI media in terms of the parameter h . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
4.3.1 Single layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
4.3.2 Layered media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
4.4 Long-spread moveout of SV-waves in VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
4.4.1 Models with negative parameter s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
4.4.2 Positive parameter s and models with cusps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
4A Weak-anisotropy approximation for long-spread moveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
4B P-wave moveout in layered VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
CONTENTS vii
5 Reflection moveout of mode-converted waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

5.1 Dip-dependent moveout of PS-waves in a single layer (2D) . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

5.1.1 Parametric representation of PS traveltime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
5.1.2 Attributes of the PS moveout function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
5.2 Application to a VTI layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
5.2.1 Weak-anisotropy approximation for PS moveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
5.2.2 Recovery of the PS-wave moveout curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
5.3 3D treatment of PS-wave moveout for layered media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
5.3.1 2D expressions for vertical symmetry planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
5.3.2 3D description of PS-wave moveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
5.3.3 Moveout attributes in layered media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
5.4 Nonhyperbolic moveout of PS-waves in layered VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
5.4.1 Taylor series coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
5.4.2 Nonhyperbolic moveout equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
505 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
5A 2D description of PS moveout in a single layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
5B 3D expression for the slope of CMP moveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
5C NMO velocity for converted-wave moveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
5D Weak-anisotropy approximation for PS moveout in VTI media . . . . . . . . . 241
5D.1 Parametric expressions for the traveltime curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
5D.2 Moveout attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
5E 3D description of PS moveout in layered media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
5E.1 Single anisotropic layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
5E.2 Layered media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
5E.3 2D relationships for symmetry planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
6 P-wave time-domain signatures in transversely isotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . 253

6.1 P-wave NMO velocity as a function of ray parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
6.1.1 2D analysis for a VTI layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
6.1.2 Dip plane of a layered medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
6.1.3 3D analysis using the NMO ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
6.2 Two-parameter description of time processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
6.2.1 Migration impulse response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
6.2.2 Brief summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
6.3 Discussion: Notation and P-wave signatures in VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
6.3.1 Advantages of Thomsen parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
6.3.2 Influence of vertical transverse isotropy on P-wave signatures . . . . . 271
6.4 Moveout analysis for a tilted symmetry axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
6.4.1 NMO velocity as a function of ray parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
6.4.2 Parameter h for TTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
6.4.3 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

viii CONTENTS

6A Dependence of NMO velocity in VTI media on the ray parameter . . . . . . . . 283

6A.1 Building the function Vnmo (p). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
6A.2 Elliptical anisotropy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
6A.3 Weak transverse isotropy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
6B NMO velocity in tilted elliptical media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
7 Velocity analysis and parameter estimation for VTI media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

7.1 Inversion of P-wave dip moveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
7.1.1 Inversion for h in the dip plane of a VTI layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
7.1.2 2D inversion in vertically heterogeneous media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
7.1.3 3D inversion of azimuthally varying NMO velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
7.1.4 Field-data example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
7.1.5 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
7.2 Inversion of P-wave nonhyperbolic moveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
7.2.1 Single VTI layer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
7.2.2 Nonhyperbolic velocity analysis for layered media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
7.2.3 Field-data examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
7.2.4 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
7.3 Joint inversion of P and PS data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
7.3.1 S-waves in parameter estimation for VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
7.3.2 2D inversion of horizontal and dipping events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
7.3.3 3D inversion of wide-azimuth data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
7.3.4 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
8 P-wave imaging for VTI media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

8.1 Fowler-type time-processing method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
8.1.1 Fowler DMO in isotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
8.1.2 Extension to VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
8.1.3 Synthetic example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
8.1.4 Field-data example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
8.1.5 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
8.2 Dip moveout by Fourier transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
8.2.1 Hale’s DMO method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
8.2.2 2D Hale DMO for anisotropic media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
8.2.3 Application to VTI media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
8.2.4 Synthetic examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
8.2.5 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
8.3 Time and depth migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
8.3.1 Phase-shift (Gazdag) migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
8.3.2 Gaussian beam migration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
8.4 Synthetic example for a model from the Gulf of Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
8.4.1 Parameter estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
8.4.2 Depth migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
CONTENTS ix
8.4.3 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

8.5 Field-data example with multiple fault planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

8.5.1 Parameter estimation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
8.5.2 Time imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
8.6 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Author index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Subject index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
About the author
Ilya Tsvankin received his M.S. (1978) and Ph.D. (1982) degrees in
geophysics from Moscow State University in Russia. From 1978 to
1989 he worked at the Institute of Physics of the Earth in Moscow
and was deputy head of the laboratory “Geophysics of Anisotropic
Media.” After moving to the United States in 1990, Ilya became a
consultant to the Amoco Production Research Center in Tulsa. Since
1992, he has been on the faculty of Colorado School of Mines, where
currently he is professor of geophysics and co-leader of the Center
for Wave Phenomena. Ilya’s research has focused on seismic model-
ing, inversion, and processing for anisotropic media, fracture characterization, time-
lapse seismic, and nonlinear elasticity. For his pioneering work in seismic anisotropy,
Ilya received the Virgil Kauffman Gold Medal Award from SEG (1996). Among Ilya’s
recognitions are the SEG Best Paper in Geophysics Award (2009) and election to Fel-
lowship of the Institute of Physics, a leading international physics society. In 2011 SEG
published his most recent book, Seismology of Azimuthally Anisotropic Media and Seis-
mic Fracture Characterization, co-authored by Vladimir Grechka. Ilya and Vladimir are
teaching a short course on anisotropy worldwide as part of the SEG Continuing Educa-
tion Program.
xi
Preface to the SEG edition
Preface to the SEG edition

This is the third edition of Seismic signatures and analysis of reflection data in aniso-
tropic media, with the first two published by Elsevier in 2001 and 2005. I am delighted
that the monograph has been widely used by geophysicists working on seismic ani-
sotropy and also has served as a textbook for academic and professional courses. In
particular, SEG provides it to attendees of the Continuing Education Course “Seismic
anisotropy: Basic theory and applications in exploration and reservoir characteriza-
tion,” which Vladimir Grechka and I have been teaching worldwide since 2002. After
receiving the publication rights from Elsevier in 2010, I chose SEG for the next edition
because the society includes the vast majority of the book’s intended readership.
It will not be an exaggeration to characterize the decade that has passed since
completion of the original version of the book as momentous in the history of seis-
mic anisotropy. Although the main concepts of anisotropic parameter estimation and
general approaches to seismic processing for anisotropic media had been developed
earlier, transversely isotropic models with a vertical (VTI) and tilted (TTI) symmetry
axis finally became standard in P-wave depth imaging by 2010. The most recent ad-
vances include extension of migration algorithms to more complicated orthorhombic
symmetry, primarily for the purpose of accurate processing of wide-azimuth surveys.
State-of-the-art seismic fracture-characterization methods, such as azimuthal move-
out and amplitude-variation-with-offset (AVO) analyses, operate with effective (long-
wavelength) azimuthally anisotropic models. The estimated fracture-related aniso-
tropy parameters are then treated as attributes to identify “sweet spots” of increased
production in tight fractured reservoirs. There also has been significant progress in
acquiring multicomponent data (e.g., mode-converted PS-waves) and employing them
in velocity analysis and reservoir characterization.
Many of those developments are described in our recent book with Vladimir
Grechka (Tsvankin and Grechka, 2011), which essentially represents a sequel to this
monograph. Various aspects of anisotropic modeling, inversion, and processing are
covered in the books by MacBeth (2002) and Rüger (2002) and expanded course notes
by Thomsen (2002) and Grechka (2009).
Recent movement of anisotropic models and methods into the mainstream of ap-
plied seismology should make this monograph even more relevant as a basic reference
volume on seismic anisotropy. Indeed, the book introduces notation for TI and or-
thorhombic symmetry, identifies the key anisotropy parameters for imaging and AVO
analysis, and gives an analytic description of seismic velocities and amplitudes in
anisotropic media. Also, it outlines basic steps of reflection data processing for trans-
verse isotropy and addresses important issues of uniqueness and stability of anisotro-
pic velocity analysis. Several sections of the book that may seem outdated still retain
xiii
xiii
PREFACE
xii TO THE SEG EDITION xiv
PREFACE TO SEG EDITION
instructive value by providing insight into the properties of anisotropic wavefields

and the performance of inversion methods. For example, although the dip-moveout
(DMO) algorithms for VTI media discussed in chapter 8 are seldom used in modern
processing, the DMO signature (e.g., embedded in reflection tomography) plays an
important role in constraining the anellipticity parameter η.
Therefore, although the book has been revised for SEG publication, its scope
remains unchanged compared to the first two editions (which were nearly identical).
The update of the bibliography is limited to the books mentioned above and to the
replacement of several SEG abstracts with subsequently published full-scale papers.
An extensive list of recent references on the subject can be found in Tsvankin and
Grechka (2011).
I am deeply grateful to volume editor Jim Gaiser for his thorough review of the
book and numerous useful suggestions. The new edition has been produced with
the help of managing editor Sergey Fomel and SEG staff (Ted Bakamjian, Jennifer
Cobb, and Jerry Henry). I would also like to thank John Stockwell and Shingo Ishida
(both of the Center for Wave Phenomena at Colorado School of Mines) for valuable
technical assistance.
Ilya Tsvankin
May 2012
Preface
Preface
This book provides background information about anisotropic wave propagation and
discusses modeling, inversion, and processing of seismic reflection data in anisotropic
media. Seismic anisotropy is hardly a new topic in the geophysical literature, with the
first contributions made by Polish scientist M. Rudzki in the last decade of the 19th
century and the beginning of the 20th century (for a detailed historical overview, see
Helbig, 1994). Also, a comprehensive theoretical treatment of wave propagation in
anisotropic solids has been developed in crystal acoustics (Fedorov, 1968; Musgrave,
1970; Auld, 1973).
Still, for most of its history seismic inversion and processing has been based on
the assumption that the subsurface is isotropic, despite the general acceptance of
the fact that most geologic formations possess a certain degree of anisotropy. The
reluctance to treat anisotropic models was quite understandable because the problem
of reconstructing even isotropic velocity fields from seismic data acquired at the Earth
surface (and, sometimes, in boreholes) is difficult and ill-posed without simplifying
assumptions. Why then add another level of complexity that may not be constrained
by the available data? Also, the mathematics needed to describe anisotropic wave
phenomena seemed too involved and often counterintuitive for most geophysicists.
The change in the attitude toward anisotropy in the exploration community can
be traced back to the mid-1980’s, when the work of Stuart Crampin, Rusty Alford,
Leon Thomsen, and others made it clear that processing of shear-wave data requires
accounting for S-wave splitting caused by azimuthal anisotropy (commonly related
to natural fractures). In contrast, the influence of anisotropy on compressional (P)
waves, which represent a majority of data being acquired in oil and gas exploration,
is not nearly as dramatic. Although P-wave velocity in anisotropic media can change
significantly with propagation angle, P-waves do not split into two modes and their
reflection moveout on conventional-length spreads (close to reflector depth) typically
is hyperbolic. Hence, it has been customary for processors and interpreters to artifi-
cially adjust the parameters of the conventional (i.e., isotropic) processing flow when
working with P-wave data from anisotropic media. This approach, however, has pro-
duced distorted velocity models and proved to be inadequate in compensating for
the full range of anisotropic phenomena in P-wave imaging, particularly in prestack
depth migration or when working with multicomponent data.
One of the most pervasive anisotropy-induced distortions in P-wave processing
is the wrong depth scale of seismic models caused by the difference between the
vertical and stacking (moveout) velocities in anisotropic media. Also, ignoring the
angle dependence of velocity creates serious problems in imaging of dipping reflectors
(such as faults) beneath or inside anisotropic formations. Massive acquisition of large-
xv
xiii
xvi
xvi PREFACE
PREFACE
offset data has revealed another common manifestation of anisotropy — nonhyperbolic

moveout on long spreads that cannot be reproduced with isotropic models.

This mounting evidence of the need to account for anisotropy in seismic pro-
cessing prompted an increased effort in anisotropic velocity analysis and imaging in
the late 1980s and early 1990s (e.g., Byun et al, 1989; Kitchenside, 1991; Lynn et
al., 1991). Whereas extending migration and dip-moveout (DMO) methods to aniso-
tropic media is largely a technical issue, practical implementation of the anisotropic
processing algorithms was hampered primarily by the difficulties in parameter esti-
mation. Inverting for the several anisotropy parameters needed to characterize even
the relatively simple transversely isotropic model seemed to be well beyond the reach
of reflection seismology.
The breakthrough that happened during the 1990s was in identifying the key
parameters for time and depth imaging in anisotropic media and developing practical
methodologies for estimating them from seismic data. For example, time-domain
processing of P-wave data in transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry
axis (VTI) was proved to be controlled by a single anisotropy coefficient (η) that can
be determined from P-wave reflection traveltimes (Alkhalifah and Tsvankin, 1995).
The research in anisotropic velocity analysis and parameter estimation, spearheaded
by the Center for Wave Phenomena (CWP) at the Colorado School of Mines, was
built on the pioneering work of Thomsen (1986), who introduced a new notation for
TI media that greatly simplified analytic description of seismic signatures. In addition
to improving seismic images of exploration targets, anisotropy parameters were shown
to provide valuable information for lithology discrimination and characterization of
fracture networks. Those results, which finally made anisotropic processing a practical
endeavor with far-reaching exploration benefits, are the main focus of this book.
Another development that has put anisotropic models at the forefront of seismic
processing is the technology of multicomponent ocean-bottom seismology (OBS). The
high-quality converted-wave (PS) data acquired on the sea floor were effectively used
in several exploration scenarios, most notably for imaging targets beneath gas clouds
(e.g., Granli et al., 1999). Isotropic processing of PS-waves, however, often turned out
to be inadequate because the influence of anisotropy on mode conversions generally
is more substantial than that on P-waves. Misties between PP and PS sections (such
as different depths of reflectors) could not be removed without taking anisotropy
into account. Hence, significant attention in the book is devoted to the kinematic
properties of converted waves in anisotropic media and velocity-analysis methods
operating with PP and PS data.
Although the emphasis of the book is on applications of anisotropic models in
reflection seismology, some background information about anisotropic wave propa-
gation is given in Chapter 1 and the first section of chapter 2. A more detailed
discussion of the theoretical aspects of seismic anisotropy can be found in Helbig
(1994) [other useful references are the books by Fedorov (1968), Musgrave (1970),
and Auld (1973) mentioned above]. Chapter 1 also introduces Thomsen notation for
transverse isotropy and then extends it to the more complicated, but possibly quite
PREFACE
PREFACE xvii
xv
realistic, orthorhombic model. Note that one of the main reasons for the difficulties
in moving anisotropy into the mainstream of seismic processing was in the conflicting
notations used in the anisotropic literature. As demonstrated throughout the book,
Thomsen parameters not only simplify the description of a wide range of seismic sig-
natures, they also provide valuable insight into the influence of anisotropy on seismic
velocities and amplitudes.
Chapter 2 deals with the dynamic aspects of wave propagation in anisotropic
media. The Green’s function for a homogeneous anisotropic medium is derived as a
Weyl-type integral over plane waves, and then simplified for the far-field using the
stationary-phase approximation. The analytic results and numerical modeling are
used to study the influence of anisotropy on body-wave polarizations and radiation
patterns from point forces, including the dramatic phenomenon of focusing and de-
focusing of energy associated with angle-dependent velocity. The second section of
Chapter 2 discusses the amplitude-variation-with-offset (AVO) response for P- and
S-waves in VTI media. Anisotropy may cause serious (and comparable) distortions
in both the reflection coefficient and the amplitude distribution along the wavefront
propagating through the overburden.
Normal-moveout (NMO) velocity, a signature of critical importance in the velocity
analysis of reflection data, is the subject of Chapter 3. A general 2D NMO equa-
tion is used to give a concise analytic description of dip-dependent NMO velocity
for homogeneous TI models with a vertical and tilted axis of symmetry. Exten-
sion of the classical Dix equation to symmetry planes of layered anisotropic media
helps relate the effective and interval NMO velocities for dipping reflectors and to ex-
press anisotropy-induced errors in time-to-depth conversion for VTI media in terms
of Thomsen parameter δ. The chapter also presents a 3D treatment of azimuthally
dependent NMO velocity based on the equation of the NMO ellipse, with explicit
solutions given for TI and orthorhombic media.
Discussion of reflection traveltimes in anisotropic media is continued in Chap-
ter 4, which is devoted to nonhyperbolic (long-spread) moveout. The influence of
anisotropy on large-offset traveltimes in horizontally layered media is explained us-
ing the quartic (fourth-order) moveout coefficient. The most important result of this
chapter is a general nonhyperbolic moveout equation (Tsvankin and Thomsen, 1994),
which remains sufficiently accurate for P- and PS-waves in a wide range of anisotropic
models. For P-waves in VTI media, this equation is rewritten in terms of the “anel-
lipticity” parameter η, which, as shown in chapter 6, plays a key role in time-domain
processing.
Chapter 5 generalizes the results of chapters 3 and 4 for reflection moveout of
mode-converted waves. Instead of modifying the traveltime series t(x) to account for
the asymmetry of PS-wave moveout, the traveltime-offset relationship is expressed in
parametric form through the components of the slowness vector. This representation,
developed for both 2D and 3D (wide-azimuth) geometry, helps generate common-
midpoint (CMP) gathers without two-point ray tracing and leads to closed-form ex-
pressions for NMO velocity and other moveout attributes of PS-waves. The formalism
xviii
xviii PREFACE
PREFACE
of chapter 5 provides a foundation for the joint traveltime inversion of P and PS data
in VTI media discussed in chapter 7.

Analysis of time-domain signatures of P-waves for transverse isotropy with a verti-
cal and tilted axis of symmetry is presented in Chapter 6. For laterally homogeneous
VTI models above the target reflector, P-wave moveout is shown to depend on just
two medium parameters, the NMO velocity for a horizontal reflector Vnmo (0) and the
coefficient η. These parameters are sufficient to perform all P-wave time-processing
steps in VTI media including NMO and DMO corrections, and prestack and poststack
time migration. Chapter 6 also contains a general overview of P-wave signatures in
VTI media and summarizes the advantages of Thomsen notation.
Chapter 7 addresses the practically important problem of parameter estimation
in VTI media. Synthetic examples and case studies demonstrate that velocity analysis
for purposes of time-domain P-wave imaging is feasible in routine practice. The time-
processing parameters Vnmo (0) and η can be estimated from surface P-wave data alone
using either dip-dependent NMO velocity or nonhyperbolic moveout for horizontal
reflectors. To build VTI velocity models in depth, dip-dependent reflection moveout
of P-waves is combined with that of converted PSV-waves in both 2D and 3D inversion
algorithms.
P-wave DMO and migration methods for vertical transverse isotropy are dis-
cussed in Chapter 8. Extension of Fowler DMO to VTI media results in a complete
time-processing sequence that includes parameter estimation, DMO correction, and
poststack Stolt migration. Another DMO algorithm, designed for NMO-corrected
data acquired in symmetry planes of anisotropic media, represents a generalization
of Hale’s isotropic DMO by Fourier transform. Basic features of TI migration and
the distortions caused by applying isotropic codes to anisotropic data are described
in the section devoted to phase-shift (Gazdag) time migration and Gaussian beam
depth migration. Field-data examples illustrate significant improvements in P-wave
imaging achieved by the anisotropic methods and the possibility of using the derived
anisotropy coefficients in lithology discrimination.
Whereas seismic signatures and processing algorithms for TI media with a ver-
tical and (to a less extent) tilted symmetry axis are treated in sufficient detail, in-
version/processing methods for lower-symmetry models have been largely left out of
the book. The rapid advances in the analysis of wide-azimuth multicomponent data
from azimuthally anisotropic media, which make this area of research one of the most
exciting in anisotropic seismology, will be the main topic of a follow-up monograph.
Also, the book contains a theoretical and numerical analysis of shear-wave splitting
(chapters 1 and 2), but does not describe processing of split S-waves — a subject ad-
dressed in many journal publications and MacBeth’s (2002) monograph devoted to
multicomponent VSP (vertical seismic profiling) data.
The book is written in such a way that it should be useful for both graduate stu-
dents and more experienced geophysicists working in research, exploration or develop-
ment. There is no doubt that proper understanding of anisotropic processing requires
a working knowledge of the mathematical tools used in anisotropic wave propagation.
PREFACE
PREFACE xix
xvii
However, I have always believed that success in dealing with anisotropy requires cut-
ting through the sometimes overwhelming complexity of anisotropic mathematics and

identifying the mathematical details critical in solving a particular problem. There-
fore, most mathematical derivations are explained at the simplest possible level and
relegated into appendices; some more involved mathematical results are referenced
but not reproduced in the book. To make sure that the main conclusions and their
practical implications are not buried under details, they are highlighted in the dis-
cussion and summary sections.
I am deeply grateful to many people without whom this book would not have
been written. Evgeny Chesnokov invited me to his laboratory in the mid-1980’s and
exposed me for the first time to the exciting field of seismic anisotropy. Leon Thomsen
introduced me to the exploration aspects of anisotropy and provided guidance through
the first steps of my career in the United States. Fruitful collaboration with Leon
has been indispensable in developing the key ideas of this monograph. Many results
described in the book have been obtained by the A(nisotropy)-Team at CWP, and
I owe a dept of thanks to my CWP colleagues, especially to Vladimir Grechka, Ken
Larner, and the late Jack Cohen. Ken Larner has been particularly instrumental in
developing and supporting the anisotropic program at CWP.
Significant contributions to the material in the book have been made by Tariq
Alkhalifah, formerly a CWP student, John Anderson, who completed his PhD at CSM
while being an employee of Mobil, and John Toldi of Chevron. The book has also
benefited from the results of CWP students Andreas Rüger, Abdulfattah Al-Dajani,
Baoniu Han, and Tagir Galikeev. I would like to thank my colleagues Phil Anno,
Andrey Bakulin, Richard Bale, Pat Berge, James Berryman, Leonid Brodov, James
Brown, Bok Byun, John Castagna, Dennis Corrigan, Stuart Crampin, Joe Dellinger,
Dan Ebrom, Paul Fowler, James Gaiser, Dirk Gajewski, Dave Hale, Andrzej Hanyga,
Zvi Koren, Peter Leary, Yves Le Stunff, Jacques Leveille, Frank Levin, Xiang-Yang
Li, Heloise Lynn, Colin MacBeth, Mark Meadows, Michael Mueller, Francis Muir,
Gerhard Pratt, Ivan Pšenčı́k, Fuhao Qin, Patrick Rasolofosaon, Jazz Rathore, Björn
Rommel, Colin Sayers, Michael Schoenberg, Arcangelo Sena, Serge Shapiro, Risto
Siliqi, Jaime Stein, Paul Williamson, Peter Wills, Don Winterstein, and others for
many stimulating discussions on various aspects of seismic anisotropy.
The idea of the book was suggested to me by the editors of this series, Klaus Helbig
and Sven Treitel. Thorough reviews by Vladimir Grechka, Klaus Helbig, Ken Larner,
and Andreas Rüger have helped substantially improve the text. John Stockwell and
Barbara McLenon of CWP have provided invaluable assistance with setting up the
LaTeX files and preparing the manuscript for publication.
My research in anisotropy at the Colorado School of Mines has been supported
by the Consortium Project on Seismic Inverse Methods for Complex Structures at
CWP and by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the United States Department of
Energy.

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Downloaded 01/21/16 to 109.161.241.181. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.

Seismic Signatures and Analysis of

Geophysical References Series No. 19

Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A

ISBN 978-0-931830-47-1 (Series)

Society of Exploration Geophysicists

© 2012 by Society of Exploration Geophysicists

First edition 2001

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dedicated to the memory of my parents, Daniel and Maya

About the author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

1 Elements of basic theory of anisotropic wave propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

3 Normal-moveout velocity in layered anisotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

3.1 2D NMO equation in an anisotropic layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

4 Nonhyperbolic reflection moveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

5 Reflection moveout of mode-converted waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

5.1 Dip-dependent moveout of PS-waves in a single layer (2D) . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

6 P-wave time-domain signatures in transversely isotropic media . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Appendices for Chapter 6

6A Dependence of NMO velocity in VTI media on the ray parameter . . . . . . . . 283

7 Velocity analysis and parameter estimation for VTI media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

8 P-wave imaging for VTI media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

8.4.3 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

8.5 Field-data example with multiple fault planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Preface to the SEG edition

instructive value by providing insight into the properties of anisotropic wavefields

offset data has revealed another common manifestation of anisotropy — nonhyperbolic

moveout on long spreads that cannot be reproduced with isotropic models.

in VTI media discussed in chapter 7.

ting through the sometimes overwhelming complexity of anisotropic mathematics and

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